MarkFord
“Creativity requires the courage to let go of certainties.” – Erich Fromm
Mira mundi is Latin for “wonderful world.” As I used it today: “I’m a busy person. I don’t want to spend a vast percentage of the hours I’ve got left in this mira mundi on this kind of ever-less-stimulating stuff. So, I’ve made a promise to myself to desist from watching these attenuated, episodic shows. I’m going to watch movies instead.”
Re my productivity system:
“I love [your productivity system]. I still use it. With some modifications of my own. Would be so helpful to me and others, I think, to see how you’ve modified this to consistently get so much done.” – ND
My response: I’ve written several essays on my time management system as I’ve developed it over the years. And I intend to keep writing about it. Meanwhile, if you don’t already have them, you might want to get a copy of Wealth Planning for Freelancers and/or Making the Most of Your Time. These two books are in limited supply. For availability, contact us.
Re the availability of my books:
“Please let me know how I can secure copies of your books.” – DWS
My response: Most of my books are available on Amazon. You can access them directly on this website by clicking “My Books” in the menu in the upper-left corner of the Home page.
Animals asking people for help and kindness…
Untitled, 1967, Armando Morales
Oil and collage on canvas
40.25 x 32 inches
I’m excited about our most recent acquisition. It’s the oil painting you see above, by Armando Morales. Along with Francisco Zúñiga and Carlos Mérida, he is among the best-known and most sought after Central American Modernists.
This brings our collection of his work to seven pieces. We have one forest scene, three nudes, and, with this, three abstracts. Currently, the forest paintings demand the highest prices – ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. The nudes are typically bought and sold in the $30,000 to $50,000 range. But the early abstractions, like this one, which Morales did in the 1960s when he was living and working in New York, lag behind in valuations.
Suzanne bought it for a good price from a distressed buyer. It has excellent provenance and is a good size at 40 x 32 inches. In adding this piece, I’m betting that the gap between the forests, the nudes, and the abstractions will narrow as Morales’s reputation in the international art community continues to climb and the art-buying public realizes how great these early abstractions are.
In late March, CNN tested an exciting idea – a subscription-based streaming service that they called CNN+. It would compete with Fox Nation, which has more than 1 million subscribers and is growing fast. They hired 500 employees and invested $300 million into the project. They also promised to pony up another billion over the next four years. They expected to sign up 2 million subscribers in the first year, and 15-18 million after four years. But two weeks after the launch, the service had fewer than 10,000 users. The new CEO said, “This is nuts,” and shut it down on April 30.
About Fox News: Contrary to popular belief, Fox’s audience is far from ideologically homogeneous. A Morning Consult survey found that more independents watch Fox News than any other network. And according to Nielsen MRI Fusion data, Fox and CNN have a near-identical share of the liberal audience for cable TV news. Last year, for the sixth year in a row, Fox was rated #1 in all of cable news, averaging 1.3 million total day viewers in 2021, compared to CNN at 787,000 and MSNBC at 919,000.
Old is new. Retro is back.
Target is partnering with ThredUP to take advantage of the growing market for used clothes. Click here.
Meanwhile, 80s style leg warmers are bringing in big money on Amazon.
To help entrepreneurs cash in on this craze, the IndieTrackers website recently posted a list of ideas for new businesses. Click here.
Izamal, in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula
Haven’t been there yet, but it’s on my bucket list.
Izamal, was founded almost 2,000 years ago by the Maya people. Named for Itzam Na, a Maya god of healing and resurrection, it means “dew that falls from the heavens.”
As you can see from the above photo, most of the buildings in the downtown are painted this radiant yellow color. Some say it started as a way to honor the Maya sun god. A more practical theory suggests it’s because the color repels mosquitoes. The truth is… no one really knows how or why this happened.
Things to see in Izamal:
* The bright yellow downtown architecture, of course. Not surprisingly, Izamal is known as la Ciudad Amarilla (the Yellow City).
* Convento de San Antonio de Padua, a 16th century monastery and church. Originally used to convert the Maya people to Catholicism, it is one of the oldest Catholic churches in the Americas.
* Kinich Kakmó Pyramid, one of many Maya ruins in and around Izamal. This one – the largest – is right in the center of the town.
* Centro Cultural y Artesanal, a 16th century mansion that is now a museum.
* Mercado Municipal de Izamal, the local market.
An Infuriated Aretha Franklin Writes to Gossip Columnist Liz Smith
In 1993, at New York City’s Nederlander Theatre, Aretha Franklin joined the likes of Elton John, Gloria Estefan, and Smokey Robinson for an AIDS benefit concert titled “Aretha Franklin: Duets.”
Reviews of the performances were glowing. But in her column, Liz Smith decided to critique Franklin’s attire instead, noting that she “must know she’s too bosomy to wear such clothing, but she just doesn’t care what we think, and that attitude is what separates mere stars from true divas.”
Franklin’s response:
How dare you be so presumptuous as to presume you could know my attitudes with respect to anything other than music. Obviously I have enough of what it takes to wear a bustier and I haven’t had any complaints, I’m sure if you could you would. When you get to be a noted and respected fashion editor please let us all know.
Aretha Franklin
P.S. You are hardly in any position to determine what separates stars from divas since you are neither one or an authority on either.
(Source: Letters of Note)